City approves Federal Street bridge project; road to close for 90 days in spring

The Shawnee city commission on Monday approved a bid for the rehab project on the Federal Street bridge. Work could begin by April, with the bridge closed to traffic for about 90 days.

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By Kim Morava

The Shawnee News-Star

By Kim Morava

Posted Jan. 23, 2013 at 9:00 AM

By Kim Morava

Posted Jan. 23, 2013 at 9:00 AM

The Shawnee city commission on Monday approved a bid for the rehab project on the Federal Street bridge. Work could begin by April, with the bridge closed to traffic for about 90 days.

The two-lane bridge over the railroad tracks is located on Federal Street between Union and Harrison Street.

The commission approved a total bid of $685,565 for the rehab project, which will include a new road surface and rail work, along with some decorative rock stamp on the rails.

Once the work begins, it will take about 90 days to complete, City Engineer John Krywicki told the commission, so Federal Street will be closed to through traffic for at least three months.

Because some water, phone and gas utilities will need to be moved before work begins on the bridge, Krywicki told the commission the bridgework probably wouldn’t proceed until the end of March or early April.

While the work is being done, traffic from Federal Street will have to be diverted onto Union Street north to MacArthur or on Union Street south to Independence, he said.

Commissioners Linda Agee and Pam Stephens were absent from the meeting, along with Mayor Wes Mainord. The remaining four commissioners — Steve Smith, John Winterringer, Keith Hall and James Harrod — unanimously approved the motion for the bridge project.

Before the commission awarded the bid, Krywicki reported the city had about $928,315 available in its bridge fund. Of that, about $448,000 was carryover funds from last fiscal year’s bridge funds. That carryover was attributed to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation funding the rehab work to the Gordon Cooper Street bridge in 2012, City Manager Brian McDougal said, which saved the city about $575,000.

In other business:

• An administrative report from Steve Nelms, interim director of utilities, discussed a pipe replacement at the water treatment plant due to heavy calcification. The 127 feet of line was replaced Jan. 11, he said, with the project taking nearly six hours. The cost was $34,900, he said, providing a more a max flow of water for treatment. He said another section of line has about one to four inches of calcification so they hope to replace about 110 feet of line in that area as well. That line could cost about $20,000, the commission discussed.

• Commissioners approved a proposal to replace the City Hall phone system.

• The board tabled a proposed executive session to discuss “potential claims, litigation or other options regarding encroachment into city’s utility service area by other entities,” according to the agenda.